


A Stone's Influence

by Pols



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Tony Stark, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Civil War Team Iron Man, Evil Wanda Maximoff, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, Infinity War, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Permanent Injury, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Tony Stark get's shit done, Tony Stark-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2018-10-28 03:21:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10822683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pols/pseuds/Pols
Summary: While Tony tries to salvage the situation after thecivil war, as well as overcome his injuries, the ultimate fight for earth approaches.





	1. Chapter 1

“Well, shit,” Tony thinks, after Rogers and Barnes left his sight. “A vibranium shield through the arc reactor and one's rip cage is probably one of the more dramatic ways to say that you're not longer in one team.” To top it all off, being stranded in Siberia doesn't make it any better.

“So, okay. Let's take stock: The armor is down, the arc reactor broken. So no Friday, no flight, no any tech help. The only way to move the armor is through sheer muscle power. The emergency releases are an option, but the thin leather jacket, shirt, and jeans I'm wearing are not much help at -20°C Siberian weather, so the dead suit is still usable for insulation purposes, at least for a little while. I've got no way to contact anyone, but Friday would alert someone after she lost contact with me. I just have to wait till helps get here. Should only take like max. 6 hours, I can survive 6 hours, right? The only problem is the cold. I should maybe go deeper inside the base where I'm a little bit less likely to freeze to death. I only have to get up and walk a bit. I only have a couple of broken rips and a murder headache, nothing I haven't managed to ignore before.” 

But as Tony was standing up, he nearly fell down again. “Okay, I'm also really dizzy, so likely a concussion, too” he realizes while taking some shaky steps, only to finally fall down.

“Huh, why am I suddenly so close to the ground? Breathing is also kinda hard. And why are there suddenly two vibranium shields lying around?”, asks Tony himself before loosing consciousness.

\------------ 

Consciousness comes back slowly. Tony can't hear a thing, his eyes are too heavy to open and his body feels numb. Where is he? The last thing he remembers is... Siberia! He went to help a friend only to once again realize that he expected too much. Betrayal is his constant companion. Rogers beat him bloody and left him stranded in a dead suit. 

He has been so sure that Rogers was about to decapitate him. But instead he went for his metaphorical heart and crushed it. (He told Rogers once that this was his armors greatest weakness.) He seems to not be build for friends, Rhodey being the only exception. 

But he doesn't seem to be in Siberia anymore. It isn't cold, he isn't in his armor and he's lying on something soft.

Considering he is also feeling like a giant bruise, but all pain is kind of muted, he is probably in a hospital and on painkillers.

So somebody did find him before he froze to death. Once again Tony managed to cheat death. Hooray... he kind of feels unkillable like a cockroach. 

To gauge the extend of his injuries, Tony tries to move his limbs, but only manages some weak twitching. He keeps on trying, letting out some silent moans until suddenly something is touching his shoulder.

Panic set in, as he hasn't heard anything approaching, and the slight surge of adrenaline allows Tony to finally open his eyes and move his head to see what or who has touched him.

The sight of Rhodey lessens the panic immensely. Rhodey is safe. The little energy surge ends as quickly as it has come and Tony's head falls back again. Rhodey seems to mouth something at him but Tony is too tired to try to decipher it.

He wanted to ask Rhodey why he doesn't just ask aloud. Is there someone listening on them? But his throat is too dry to speak. 

Rhodey luckily realizes the problem, fills a cup with water and a straw and holds it to Tony's lips. Tony drinks as if he had crossed the Afghani desert again, but Rhodey takes away the cup before he can empty it. 

Rhodey mouths something at him again, so finally Tony does ask why he doesn't just speak, causing Rhodey to frown at him. 

Tony couldn't hear his own voice, his throat must be worse off than he thought. So he tries again, louder this time.

But Rhodey's frown only deepens and Tony couldn't hear himself now either. 

Before Tony can try again, Rhodey looked sharply to the right. Tony follows his example and looks too, only to realize that a doctor just came in and Tony hasn't heard it. 

Now that he thinks about it, he hadn't heard anything since he woke up. Not Rhodey, not the doctor, or the heart monitor next to him. 

“I can't hear anything,” he says to Rhodey and the doctor, though he can't hear his words himself. “Haven't heard a thing since waking up, now that I think about it.”

Panic is gripping him again, breathing is becoming hard, even with the oxygen tube down his nose. He has to calm down, he has to ground himself. Okay, he's done that often enough. 54321, easy. 

5 things he can see: Rhodey, the doc, a window, a door, and a uhm... a painting. 

4 things he can hear...FUCK...moving on. 

3 things he can touch. But before he can touch his blanket, he stumbles upon a slight problem. Where his right hand is supposed to be is now only a slightly red bandage upon a stump.

He can't breath anymore and black was finally creeping in his vision. After maybe half a minute, which feels like a eternity to Tony, he feels a pinprick and falls asleep again.

\-----------

The next time Tony wakes up again, he feels unnaturally calm. Even when he remembers about his loss of hearing and right hand, he can't muster up the energy to panic again. Hmm, they probably had drugged him to keep him calm.

The moment Rhodey realizes that Tony is awake again, Rhodey puts a StarkTab in front of him and starts speaking. Tony can't hear anything now either, but the tablet was displaying Rhodey's words as he speaks, courtesy of Friday.

“Hey Tones, you're save in the compound, in the medical wing. I've called the doctor, she will be here in a minute. She will tell you all about your injuries. Nothing life threatening anymore, so you're going to be okay. You're Tony Stark, deafness and an amputation will not stop you. Knowing you, you just gonna attach a gauntlet to your arm and make the statement 'I am Iron Man' even more true.”

Before Rhodey can add anything more, the doctor arrives. She speaks shortly to Rhodey before she checks over Tony's wounds and then addresses him.

“So Dr. Stark, Colonel Rhodes told me that you can read what I tell you on your tablet, is that correct?” Tony nodded. “Good. I'm Dr. Barbara Bell, your main doctor. You've been admitted 9 days ago unconscious and critically injured.

“You had severe hypothermia and your right hand had to be amputated. The frostbite was too serious. Colonel Rhodes told me that your right gauntlet was damaged and the coolant for the repulsors spilled all over your hand. This led to an increased cooling down of your hand and the frostbite managed to be severe enough that the tissue was irreversible damaged.”

Yeah, Tony can remember when the coolant had spilled after Barnes crushed the gauntlet in his hand. He had been angry back then that he couldn't use the repulsor anymore and hadn't spared a thought that the liquid could cost him his hand.

“You also had some frostbite in other places like on your face, as it was unprotected during your...stay in Siberia, put no permanent damage should remain.

“Four ribs were broken and several more cracked. The fake sternum had to be removed and replaced as it was damaged. The same with your implanted cardiac defibrillator. You were lucky that the stress of the whole situation didn't trigger another heart attack. Your old ICD probably wouldn't have been operational enough to save you.

“The fractured ribs also punctured your right lung and led to a partial collapse. Thankfully, it was only a rather small part, as your lung capacity was already decreased and a bigger decrease may have led to not enough oxygen for your brain.”

The arc reactor still manages to nearly kill him again after he had removed it years ago. Back when the arc was first installed, parts of the lungs had to be removed to make room for the casing. A gift that keeps on giving.

“We induced a coma shortly after you have been admitted to treat all problems and give you some time to begin healing. The coma was kept for 6 days and afterwards you slept for 2 more days with no aid. 

“Your left arm is broken and you have some contusions and lots of cuts, especially in the chest were your armor was forced down, as well as some blood loss, but that was minimized by the cold.

“Now to your loss of hearing. You seem to have sustained multiple hard hits to the head. This lead to concussions and the so called second impact syndrome. This can happen when you sustain two concussions shortly after each other, the second minutes or hour after the initial one, so that the first one was still not healed. It has a high mortality rate, though you already survived the critical time, and can effect speech, cognitive ability, sensory ability, vision, perception, smell, taste, social/emotional interactions and lastly hearing. You seem to be affected with loss of hearing. We did a MRI scan and your auditory cortex has sustained a cerebral edema, which caused many neurons responsible for auditory processing to die off. Your ears can still hear fine, but the signals they send to you brain can't be processed. 

“Sadly, medicine isn't yet able to revive dead neurons or replace them, so your deafness is permanent. Though thankfully, language processing in general itself isn't effected, so you still can read and speak. Sign language will be possible for you, too.

“Your treatment currently consists of antibiotics, painkillers and something to keep you calm. Your right arm has to heal after the amputation before a prosthesis can be attached and your left arm has to be in a cast for 6 weeks. We would like to keep you at least another week to monitor you and be close in case of complications.

“Here are some specialist I recommend to help you with your deafness and these for prosthesis. As you probably want to research them a bit. I will check on you daily, the nurses every 6 hours. If you need something in the meantime, you can press the call button. So, do you have any questions and how do you feel?” the doc lastly asks.

How did he feel? Hmm... “Like one giant bruise, to be honest. Everything kinda hurts, but it's all numbed down. I've got no fucking right hand anymore-” how is he supposed to build shit? “-and I'm deaf. So in conclusion, peachy.”

Damn, it's so weird to talk without hearing oneself. Is he talking too loud or not loud enough? Fuck if he knows.

“Well, that is to be expected,” the doc said with a sigh. “Considering the state you came here in, you were pretty lucky. Your stay here was until now without additional complications like infections or a heart attack. I've heard you're not a fan of hospitals, but I implore you not to leave AMA. Your heart may not handle additional stress and an infection is still possible.”

“Okay, great. I will consider it,” Tony says noncommittally. The doctor only gives another sigh and leaves the room.

“So,” Tony says after a few moments, trying to sound casual, “how long was my nap in Siberia?”

Rhodey gives him a long flat stare, before answering.” Time time between Friday losing contact and Vision hauling your ass out of there was 5 hours and 12 minutes.”

“Vision?” Tony asked.

“Yeah. When she lost contact Friday tried to hack into the bunker to see what's happening to you, but there was nothing to hack. The best she could do was access your tactical satellite Seraphim and tried to see what's happening on the outside and who will walk out of there.

“A few minutes after the loss of contact, she saw Rogers and Barnes walk out of the bunker, where they met T'Challa and an incapacitated Zemo and flew away in the king's jet. As there was no sign of you Friday contacted Vision, so he could save your skinny ass.

“Thankfully the jet Rogers stole was still there so Vision used it to bring you back state side while stabilizing your condition. He used the stealth mode, so no one knows of your little trip. He brought you directly here and the rest the doc already explained.

“What I want to know is, what happened in Siberia? Friday already told me about the tape, Rogers's lie, and the following fight up until Rogers ripped off your helmet. So what happened afterwards?” Rhodey finally asked.

“Well...,” Tony tried to find the right words to describe the clusterfuck, “after he ripped off the helmet he-,” Tony was really glad that he was already drugged, otherwise this would surely trigger a panic attack, “- smashed the shield into the arc reactor. Then he stood up, grabbed his BFF and skipped into the sunset.”

“Damn,” Rhodes said while shaking his head, “I saw how the suit looked, but for Rogers to injure you that badly and leave you stranded there with no backup or way to contact anyone, that's plain cruel and selfish.”

“Well, everyone has different priorities, I guess. But enough of me. How are you, platypus?”

“It's been a stressful few days and additionally exhausting because of the physical therapy. Speaking of, I have to go to my next appointment. Vision will be here any minute to keep you company.” As Rhodes was rolling towards the door he added “It's great to see you awake, Tones. It really is.”

\------------

_Meanwhile in Wakanda_

_“...still no statement or appearance of Tony Stark after the so called Avengers Civil War. Experts speculate whether Stark has been so gravely injured during his attempts of capturing the rogue Avengers that no appearance was possible yet or..._ ,” the newscaster says before Clint Barton turns of the television. “I'm so fed up with all the _Tony Stark this_ and _Tony Stark that_. He probably bribed the media to show him as the victim on the right side.”

“It would fit him. After all, you can't trust anything positive about a Stark,” Scott Lang adds.

Wanda looks at _her_ team with a flash of shining _blue_ eyes and just smiles. 

_He_ will be pleased.


	2. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vision and Tony have a chat and discuss some important questions.

Shortly after Rhodey leaves, Tony looses the fight and falls asleep.

When he wakes up again, Vision is sitting on the left side of his bed. He seems deep in thought, so Tony let's him for a moment and studies him. 

Vision looks like he more or less always does, but he isn't wearing one of his sweaters he likes to wear nowadays, but the outfit with the cloak he wore directly after he was 'born'.

He has a slight frown between his eyes and after a few moments, Vision seems to notice that Tony is awake and addresses him. But instead of speaking aloud, he projects his words directly on Tony's tablet.

“ _Good afternoon, Mr Stark. How are you?”_

“More or less fine, thanks to your help. Thank you Vision, for saving me.” Tony answers.

“ _Of course. Friday sounded really concerned and I am happy to help. Though I must admit that her concerns were rightly so. You did not have much time left._ ”

“You also brought back my armor, right? I would hate for some Hydra goons to stumble upon my tech.”

“ _Yes. I also took the abandoned shield of Mr. Rogers with me. It is currently in the tower. For the same reason as your armor and also as evidence for when you press charges._ ”

“Press charges? I don't think I will do that. Considering all he has done, this-” Tony indicates his ears and missing hand, “-is a drop in the ocean that is Rogers' criminal activity nowadays. I rather not be dragged into this more than I have to. Also, I rather not let the world know about my injuries. They would have a field day with it. And villains would try to use it against me, especially Secretary Ross.”

“ _If you are sure. Nevertheless, you have the shield in your possession now and can do what you feel is the most prudent with it._ ”

“Most prudent? I guess as long as it is out of Rogers' hand, the world is a safer place. Everything else I could do with it I think later on, now I have more important things to think about, like why you were frowning so much. I would fear of the frown would leave a mark on your skin if you weren't an android and hadn't so much control over your molecules.”

Vision frown reappears. “ _Looking at your injuries I couldn't help but think about the whole situation. How it came to this. Could have been avoided?_ ”

“And to what conclusion did you come?” Tony implores, having asked himself that question, too.

“ _There were many factors, but what I think it boils down to is trust and communication. I have accessed the memory files left from Jarvis-_ ”

“You remember?” interrupted Tony, wide eyed.

“ _In a way yes. The memories seems strange to me, best likened to a film, which feels strangely familiar but you can not actually remember having seen it._

__

__

“I have analyzed the interactions of the Avengers since they formed. Since the beginning the team member's interactions with each other were defined by deception, like Ms Romanoff's infiltration in your life. Aggression, like the confrontation amplified by the scepter. Lack of trust, especially in you by the others, as seen how willing they seem to think the worst of your actions. And communication, as the withholding of important information seem to be the norm.

“Your teamwork seems to be the best when you have no other choice and you are too busy to question each of us motivation. Like during the Chitauri invasion, where you worked like a well oil machine. In contrast to the downtime when you were looking for Ultron, where assumptions were flown around and you doubted each other. You even were physically assaulted by team member without any of the others bothering to stop it.

 _“Though I guess this pales to what Steve Rogers has done to you in Siberia,_ ” Vision concludes.

“Well, if you put it like that, Siberia looks like the logical conclusion of it. Bruce was right after all: _'We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos.'_ Maybe the confrontation on the helicarrier at the beginning was less influenced by the scepter then we thought,” Tony muses.

“ _Maybe, but speaking of the scepter. I have been thinking about the scepter and the mind stone as well as Ultron and I. The difference and their causes._

__

__

“You didn't create Ultron, he was already in the scepter and during your attempts at studying him by first making a compatible connection to the it, he broke free. He overwhelmed Jarvis, who introduced him to the few base ideas of what you envisioned Ultron, an earth defense system, to be, and made his bastardized version of it. 

_“This begs the question, why was there an AI in the stone to begin with and why was it evil?_ ”

“We know that the scepter was in Hydra's hands”, Tony follows Visions thought process. “And before that it belonged to Loki. Thor told me that Loki wasn't alone in this quest of conquering earth. Loki must had made a deal with someone to get the help of the Chitauri.”

“ _Yes, That makes three possible culprits that we kind of know about. Hydra may be evil and the members have no scruple to cause death, but human extinction would be against their cause._

__

__

_“Additionally, I doubt there would be able to create such an advanced AI on the own._ "

"So that leaves the alien cause: A stone, who gained evil sentience on its own. Or an alien like Loki or his ally, who put it in there for their evil cause.”

“ _Indeed, I have talked with Thor about what he knows about the mind stone, as it is still a mystery to myself. Sadly, he did not know much, though he promised he would ask in Asgard and tell me on his next visit. What he knew was that there is a myth of six such powerful stones, two of which you already know about: My mind stone and the space stone, which was part of the Tesseract. There are also the soul, power, reality, and time stone._ ” Vision shares.

“So that gives the possibility of other maybe evil AIs in the other stones or the mind stone was the only one considering it was the _mind_ stone. I could look into the Tesseract research conducted by Howard and Shield. Maybe there is some data that would indicate an AI.

“It's still leaves the question why someone would want humanity dead. Loki attacked Earth because of Thor's connection to it, though he wanted to conquer and rule over it. A mass extinction event wouldn't leave him much to rule over but a maybe few deep ocean fish species. Not really worth the trouble.

“ _Why someone powerful with an army was in working with Loki I don't now, so his motivations I can't guess. But he must have gotten something out of the invasion, for lending his soldiers to conquer for Loki. Maybe it is as simple as money, maybe they had higher goals which were in conflict with Loki's._

“The earth is plenty fertile and according to Thor has a strategic place in the universe. Maybe it is as 'simple' as wanting a A+ real estate and beforehand getting rid of the current prominent species and then use Earth for themselves... But I guess only Thor could answer that. Well, Loki would be even better, but Thor said he died, so.”

_“I do not know which possibility would be worse. The possibility of the mind stone gaining evil sentience on it's own again and corrupting me or a powerful and skilled evil being who planned all this.” Vision confesses._

“Maybe we could scan you and the mind stone to see if there are two different AI's at work.” Tony proposes.

“ _That would probably be prudent. I also will try to look into mythologies and legends to see if there something about these stones.”_

“As will I and Friday, won't you Fry?

“ _Already on it, Boss.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably abuse the use of commas, but I'm German and we love our commas.


	3. Status Report

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. I didn't plan to be away so long, but work and exams kept me busy. Updates should come earlier from now on.

“Considering Hydra has experimented with the scepter, looking closer into the file dump, courtesy of Romanoff and Rogers not thinking about collateral damage, would maybe help, too.” Tony muses.

“ _This is a good idea, too. But I would implore you to first give yourself some time to heal. A few more days of mystery will not do any more harm_ ,” Vision communicates directly on the StarkTab.

“Pfff. I would bore myself to death if I wouldn't have some kind of project to occupy my time and then all your hard time of saving me would go to waste. Plus, it's something I can do one-handed, deaf and restricted to a bed. I already got my tablet right here.” Here Tony waved with his StarkTablet.

“ _I guess as long as you stay right here, I won't be too strenuous._ ”

“I will be on my best behavior! So Friday, what have I missed?,” Tony asks.

“ _First of all, your are shouting a bit, Boss._ ”

“Shouting?”, he asks, still quite loud. He coughed a bit and continues with a lower voice. “Hmm, we will have to make some program which continuously measures how loud I am and shows it to me on the tablet via a bar or something. Maybe I can integrate it one my sunglasses, so that it won't be that obvious. Put that on my to-do-list, Fry. Where were we? Right, status report.”

“ _I'll updated your list. So, SI is quite fine, the stocks dipped a bit but nothing to be concerned about. How often you apparently come back from being assumed dead or missing, they learned to wait out till something official has been published. And as you quite often come back with new ideas, they probably already planing what they will do with the additional profits._ ”

“Well, they wouldn't be wrong. StarkMedical will get an influx of ideas when I get the time...and two working hands.”

“ _Wilson, Maximoff, Barton and Lang have escaped the Raft..._ ”

“Rogers broke his team out already?” Tony interrupts Friday. “That was fast. But I guess if he has to backing of king kitty, he didn't need much time to prepare. Is the escape known to the public?”

“ _Yes, the UN announced it, warning the people to not engage them and share any sightings of them. Though only we know that they hide in Wakanda_ ,” Friday answers.

“But why T'Challa would help them after he tried so desperately to kill Barnes earlier, would be interesting to know.” Tony musses.

“ _The plan of Zemo to frame Barnes for the bombing in Vienna was made public shortly after you left for Siberia and the news had been spread through the mainstream media. Additionally, the king was the one who delivered Zemo to Ross._ ”

“So he realized that Barnes hadn't killed his father and maybe feels some guilt about his actions. And as a way to relieve the guilt he proposed to become their new sugar daddy. Even if they stand against everything the Accords and his country tried to do.

“Friday, look if you can find out more what Rogers & Co are up to. But don't trip any alarms. Also, did we get any more evidence against secretary Ross?”

“ _Not really_ ,” Friday replies. “ _We've got the footage of the imprisoned Rogues in the Raft and the use of a shock collar and straitjacket on the witch, which could be seen as inhuman._

 _“But their imprisonment is lawful till their trials considering the high flight risk and the possibility of high collateral damage. And as no prison could hold her because of her powers, it is probably nothing to use against him._ ”

“Well, we just have to look harder. Just a few more crimes and he will be in prison forever.

“So, to more fun topics. How is this clusterfuck shown in the media?”

Friday answers Tony after a second. “ _Nowadays they are mostly asking where you are and why you haven't given a statement yet_.” Tony winces. “ _Some are speculating that Rogers killed you and hid the body,-_ ” Tony reflexively covers where his reactor used to be “ _-that you're injured, sick, hiding or that you're taking a long needed a vacation. That is my favorite. You should really do that,_ ” Friday writes with a laughing emoji.

“You know I can't do that,” Tony tells her, proud at how far she's come in terms of showing emotions, even if she now has to rely on emojis with him instead of inflection of voice. “And besides, I was in the coma for nine days, that's enough of vacation.”

“ _Only you would think so._ ”

“I'm important. With lots of stuff to do.”

“ _Well, when they aren't talking about you, they talk about the Xvengers or Rogue Avengers, as they like to call them. FOXNews is a big fan of them. Talking how to represent the USA, freedom, justice. Considering it's FOXNews, this was to be expected._

 _“The more respectable news outlets demand that they are caught and put on trial. That they shall pay for the damages and striped of the hero status. International media demand harsher Accords. Especially the ones where they caused casualties. 10 additional countries are about to sign them, too._ ”

Tony sighs. “So, to some it up, Rogers managed to make the situation multiple times worse for heroes in general and especially for himself. For a supposed tactical genius he lost totally his head.

“Did the UN or Ross make a statement about the whole situation or is it the media happily speculating away?”

“ _Ross gave quite a long statement._ ” Of course. “ _Demanding that he got a stricter handle on all this and some other bullshit. But the public knows more or less everything they should know. So you don't have to manage this. But at least some short statement should come from you._ ”

“Yeah. The best would be a press conference, but I doubt I will be able to move naturally anytime soon. Also, my missing limb would be quite obvious. So a video conference would probably be best. Sitting before a nice wall and talk without much moving.” Tony concludes.

“ _Would you like to do that as a video conference, where people could I ask you questions or only post a video with your statement?_ ” Friday asks. Tony thinks a second before answering. 

“Probably just a statement. How is the damage control going? Is the Stark Relief Foundation still helping?”

“ _Yes, mostly in Lagos and Romania. Germany mainly use some monetary help._ ”

“And the victims?”

“ _The ones that survived are getting the best help money can pay. Your legal team is also helping but without the Rogues catched, the law suits are more statement and a sign of anger than actually doing something right now. Though the second the Rogues are caught, they will be ready._ ”

“Is there a speculation about where Rogers & Co went? I know based on the fact that Rogers and Barnes left with the king and that they manage to break into the Raft and take with them the rest of the lost sheep, that they are in Wakanda. But is there some idea in the public about that?”

“ _The media shares quite a few rumors about their hiding place. Making memes about it is currently the favorite on 9gag and reddit, like photoshopping them on the moon, but nothing of substance. Those social media sites also have fun creating wanted posters of the Rogues._ ”

“Well at least some people get to have fun with the whole situation. Well no used to cry about spilt milk, let's do some damage control.

“First on the agenda: Making a statement. Though that bears the question if I should show my face like it is, do I need the public angry on my behalf at Rogers or do I have to seem strong for the public? Friday, how is the public behaving?”

“ _Quite some people are angry at Rogers, so you don't need to let them feel sympathetic to you. And only few are wondering who can protect them from a big threat as the big threat for now are superheroes and enhanced people themselves._ ”

“Awesome,” Tony heaves a sigh and thinks for a moment. “So a video statement which shows some injuries would probably be best. Show them that there are still a few who risk their lives for them, but not too awful as to not show how for some of them are are willing to go for personal goals.

“The tablet camera should be enough. Friday, replace the background with some generic white wallpaper and remove everything that shows what's wrong with me. Well, more than usually”, Tony commands and places the tablet in front of him.

“Start recording. Hello dear concerned citizens and media outlets. The report of my death has been greatly exaggerated. (Sorry, I couldn't stop myself from using that line.) As you can see, I am alive and mostly well. A few broken bones-”, here he waves with the plastered broken left arm, while keeping his right stump completely out of frame, “-is more annoying than anything.

“I may be out of commission for a while, but be assured that I will return as Iron Man and I will keep defending you. Thank you for the concern you showed me. Goodbye.” He said throwing a kiss with his left arm and told Friday to stop the recording.

“What do you think, Fry? Will that be enough to satisfy my loyal fans and vultures?”

“ _No. But they are never satisfied however much you offer, so it doesn't matter_ ," Friday answers.

“True. Send it to Pepper and PR and get their blessing and then post it online on the SI website.

“So, task one done. What's next on the list? The Accords and damage control.

“Being injured gives me some time before I have to play politician again, so that's going on the back burner for now. The Stark Relief Foundation is already deployed where they are needed. I am willing to pay a bit for the damage done on the airport, but tell the rest that I wasn't involved at all, so at most I am willing to help with expertise but not with my money.

“Fry, do we have possible new recruits to replace the hmm... retired ones?”

“ _There aren't any as far as I know, but I can run a few data bases to see if there are some enhanced people who may want to join the super hero business._ ”

“Thank you Fry, please do that.

“So, that's all that needed my immediate action concerning that mess. Up to the next issue: Rhodey's legs.” Though he won't be able to build anything without getting out of the hospital and with a new limb. The cast poses an obstacle, too. But designing and planning is still possible. Though Rhodey's legs and his missing hands share some issues, like moving a prosthesis or paralyzed legs through biosignals. So he could tackle both problems with similar solutions. Extremis is sadly not an option. True, the original formula would have been able to regrow my hand or Rhodey's spine, but with the possible outcome of exploding. The stabilized version has a healing factor, but isn't able to regrow that much or critical tissue. And the effects on dead neurons isn't at all tested, so no real help there either.

“Friday, who is the current leader for hand prosthesis?“ Tony inquires.

“ _Otto Bock_ ”, she answers.

“Hmm, their work is somewhat acceptable. Okay. Get me an appointment with one of them for a hand prosthesis, for when my stump is healed enough. Money is no issue. With nondisclosure agreement etc.”

“ _Will do, boss._

“Thank you. I will update their prosthesis, so I can use it to make my own. I could probably use the EEG headset to move it like I did with the Mark 42. 

“On towards the next projects: 'Make Rhodey walk again' and 'What new problems pose the other alien stones'. The research I leave for tomorrow. Rhodey comes first. Open a new file called 'Robo legs.' I thought I could build him some braces. Their mechanics wouldn't be too different from his suit, so...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that most fics say that the imprisonment of team in the raft is unlawful and I first wanted to go that way, too. But in is there any evidence that it was so? Besides Ross being responsible for it.
> 
> TeamCap did illegal and punishable things. Some of them more than others. So that they would go to prison is kind of a given.
> 
> We didn't see them in court getting a sentence, but that wouldn't have been that interesting to show the audience. And even if there was no court process yet. There certainly was one in the making as these things take time. And TeamCap being a great flight risk and really dangerous to the public, imprisonment in high security would be sensible.
> 
> Also, the airport battle was pretty public, so the world probably would have seen the fight and imprisonment of the Rogues, so Ross would have been questioned if they suddenly just disappeared. And Tony, though he tried to bring them into custody, was always fighting for them (making deals etc.) so him knowing where they were, as well as T'Challa, being able to visit them, makes it look to me like all that was legal.
> 
> So to make a bit of variety I choose to go that route.
> 
> (That is of course not to say that the other fics are wrong or something I just chose to go that route to mix it up a bit.)


	4. Upgrade

Tony research concerning the Infinity stones comes to an early stop, when the internet search helps nothing. No websites, no online libraries and also nothing in the dark web and government servers. Tony looked, Friday looked and Vision looked. The only results they get is New Age crap. 'How the regain your spiritual power with this magical stone. Now reduced to only 49.99$.' As well as dirty business around diamonds. Hmm, he should do something about that...

And as for the research on Vision's stone Tony first has to get out of the hospital.

So Tony spends his time healing and tinkering, only sometimes interrupted by visitors like Pepper, Happy and Rhodey. So continues to improve the specs for Rhodey's braces. 

He also makes plans for his new hand. He knows how limited the range of motion of standard prosthesis are. Building a new hand will take time and will be faster with two hands, so he first plans to replace the code to make the temporary one better. “I will move my prosthetic hand, at least in the beginning, with my EEG headset.. Thankfully, I already have a few working ones, which are calibrated to my brain waves. If I change it a bit so it looks more like glasses or sunglasses, then no one would think something's up if I wear them. I could use them also as a way to display a HUD without anyone not wearing them knowing about it. This could also be used to display real-time subtitles to compensate my deafness. 

“Ha! Friday, you could even translate everything I normally wouldn’t be able to understand. Oh, I could finally understand all the bastards who conspire or gossip about me while standing right beside me.”

Most of the time he’s already wearing sunglasses while in public. In settings where this wouldn’t really work, reading glasses can be used. Tony’s old enough that no one will think twice if he suddenly would wear them.

To prepare for when he finally does have a working prosthesis, Tony uses one of his EEG headsets to measure which kind of impulses his brain sends to move it. Afterwards, he projects a hologram hand where his right hand used to be and tries to will it to move. 

First it is hard to move something that isn’t there anymore, but after one afternoon it works. After he records the neural activity of any possible movement, he's coding a replacement code for the Otto Bock prosthetic.

Sadly, the work is slow going as Tony only has one hand and only his tablet for processing his input.

So much to do, so little RAM.  
****

When after a few weeks of healing in the hospital, which Tony barely manages survive – he hates hospitals - he finally is about to be released, the only thing left is attaching the temporary hand prosthesis to Tony's stump. It's measurements where taken a week ago. 

“Good afternoon, Dr. Stark. I am George Dammer, the specialist for prosthesis from Otto Bock. I've come with your personal hand prosthesis. If you're ready, we can attach it immediately,” the man in a cheap suit introduces himself.

“Good afternoon. And yeah, sure. The faster we work the earlier I can leave this place”, Tony answers after reading what Dammer said on his tablet.

“Okay, so this here”, here he opens his suitcase, “is your new hand. To use the hand, we first have to attach a few electrodes to the stump, this will measure the electrical activity of your muscles. This will then be interpreted by the software inside the hand and translated into movement. At the beginning you will have to learn which kind of muscle movement the electrodes can measure and translate it into the wanted movement of the hand, this will take time and training. With a good and specially trained physical therapist it should take only a few months. Your hand will have a wide range of movement. It will be able to generate a grip power of 6 to 7 kg, move in a lateral pinch (e.g. to hold a phone), finger ab- and adduction (e.g. movement between fingers), tripod pinch (e.g. to hold a pencil), open palm and movement of the wrist.

“The batteries have a capacity of up to 24 hours, so you only have two load them once a day, for example overnight. The glove has been made so that it looks just like your old hand did, but if you like you can have also an additional one that looks just like a Iron Man gauntlet if you prefer, ha ha. The glove is water resistant, so you will be able to wash your hands without a problem. Though during the showers or baths the hand will have to be removed.”

With these words Dammer attaches the electrodes to Tony's skin and places the prosthetic at the end of Tony's arm.

The first test of moving the hand are sad. Pathetic. Tony only manages to make the fingers twitch mostly uncontrolled.

“The movements would be of course better if we could attach the electrodes and the connector to your arm via a operation. But you didn't want an operation.”

“Yeah, no insult intended but I build myself something better after a while”, Tony replies.

Dammer only looks shocked for a second, as if he couldn't fathom that someone could build something better. “Uhm, sure. Operations are always an option later on.

“You have to clean the glove every once in a while with a special soap. Maintenance should be done every three months. Any additional information you can get from the manual. A DVD is included for how to train movements and there is a 24/7 hotline if you wish to ask anything. Are there any more questions?”

“No, thank you.”

“Alright, we should see each other than in about three months. Good evening,” Dammer says at last.

“Mhh, sure,” Tony says noncommittally. He plans to have already his only model until then. “Good bye.”  
*****

After Dammer leaves, Tony is finally ready to be released.

The doctor checks Tony over one last time, gives him his meds, tells him to call her if anything changes with his health and to please take it easy for at least a few more months.

Happy is with Tony during the check up, a dangerous glint in his eyes that promises hell if he overdoes it, when he’s home.

No three days long lab binges for quite some time, Tony fears, and puts his most angelic face on. Happy doesn’t buy it for a second.

Still, it was worth a try.

Grabbing all of Tony’s stuff is quickly done and Happy drives Tony finally home to the tower. Thankfully, without dozens of paparazzi documenting it.

During the drive Tony already plans what he will do when he finally is home. Or what constitutes as home nowadays anyways. When they arrive at the compound, Happy brings in the bags, after Tony failed taking both, courtesy of only having one hand. Tony directly walks to the lab. 

Arriving there, he gets immediately mobbed by DUM-E, U and Butterfingers. Fry already told him that the three bots where anxious to see him again, as they were reminded of his stint in Afghanistan. Video calls with him didn't placate them much.

After the impromptu cuddle session, where the bots check him thoroughly for 'damage' and beep concerned at his cast and prosthetic hand, not that he could hear it, but he could read their body language well enough.

“Yeah, my hand got damaged so I had to upgrade it. Nothing to be concerned about, it’s like when you accidentally smash the lens of your camera, DUM-E. No you can see even better than before. My hand will be better after I make a new one, too,” Tony explains with a soft look in his eyes. “You will help me with that, won't you?” Tony ask and is met with enthusiastic nodding bots.

“Awesome! I knew I could count on you guys."

Without much further ado Tony walks over to a workstation and plugs his tablet in, as well as well as his prosthesis.

“Fry, download all the specs I made during my hospital stay. Project Rhodey's braces, I want to go over them one last time before we start producing the prototype. And analyze the software in the prosthesis and check if the code I wrote is compatible. If it is, start uploading it. I want to get rid of this depressing twitching mess.”

After half an hour of finishing touches on the leg braces, Tony can finally sent the specs to 3D print it. Uploading Tony’s code to the hand finishes at about the same time.

“Boss, the upload was successful. Primary tests, too. Would you like to test it now?” Friday asks via on of the displays.

“Of course. Thanks, Fry.” With these words Tony puts on his EEG glasses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The EEG glasses are from Iron Man 3. He managed to use his suit without actually being inside it, so they would surely would make moving a prosthetic hand easier.


	5. Guests

The first test of the combination of the EEG glasses and the new hand gives Tony some hope. The prosthetic itself isn't build for a wide range of motion, at least not compared to the real deal, but getting it to move in the range it can is now easy. Especially as Tony is used to move something that isn't really a natural part of his body, like all the parts of his suit. He makes it move in the same thoughtless manner that any person can with their body. Only when he reaches the limit of what the prosthesis can do it creates a strange disconnect. Kinda like when you lay on your arm while sleeping and loose all your feeling and movability in it. 

With this first hurdle cleared, and Rhodey's braces still 3D printing, he starts prepping the test on the mind stone and Vision, ignoring Friday when she tells him to finally get some rest. A normal sleeping schedule is overrated.  
******  
“Good morning Mr Stark” Vision greets Tony per text directly on his EEG glasses after the latter has finished the planing for the test. “You have asked for me?”

“Yes, hi Vision. We wanted to check you and the mind stone over for possible harmful outer influence. I thought we could do that now, if you have the time.”

“I haven't planned anything for now that can't be done later. What kind of test do you have planned?” Vision asks.

“I thought to basically try everything: X-ray, EEG on your head and on the stone alone, electromagnetic spectrometer and so on.” Tony wants to be as sure as possible that there can't be another fuck up like Ultron.  
*****  
“Strange,” Tony concludes after 5 hours of thorough testing, “the readings of the mind stone are a pretty different from what I've gotten from the scepter. The mind stone seems to have lost the capacity to start an AI. Either it somehow was destroyed beyond recognition when Ultron transferred his conscience or it never was in the stone to begin with. That would leave the scepter as it's origin.

“This would also most likely mean that Ultron was created by someone and not originally in the stone itself, as the scepter is clearly man-ma.., uhm, alien-made and not created by a natural force or something.

“So Ultron came probably out of the part that was in the scepter and was maybe programmed to be someone's tool to destroy humanity. I was still the one whose attempt of studying him gave him to chance to escape. But at least I don't have to fear my own AIs of going Skynet on us.” Tony ponders.

“You, Vision, have inherited things from Ultron and Jarvis. It seems that your fundamental structure, _how_ you work and think are from Ultron. Which makes sense as he started uploading himself to your body, starting with the basics. But before he could upload his personality, he was interrupted. Your personality, _what_ you think, your morality, is from Jarvis. And thank fuck for that!

“I also checked the files I got from SHIELD and Howard about the Tesseract, and they had no sign of an AI either, so hopefully only the mind stone had a mind of his own.”

“That is good to hear,” Vision says, clearly feeling relieved. “Having to doubt myself is … less than enjoyable. Thank you for checking that for me.”

“You're welcome, Vision. You can always count on my help.”  
******  
After Vision leaves again, Tony's new prosthesis is done printing. Tony only has to put the parts together. This was the main reason why he bought the of-the-shelf prosthesis. Two hands, no matter how limited one of them is, is still better at wielding etc. than only one. 

He consulted Dr Helen Cho and her (involuntary) expertise, from when she was under Ultron's and the scepter's influence, while designing the hand to be able to 3D print it in the cradle. Just like Vision was created. The needed vibranium he got from Rogers confiscated shield. Tony saw some poetic justice in it. Rogers cost him his hand (as well as many other things, not that Tony's counting) and Roger's shield will make up his new one.

And what a beauty it will be. It will be powered by two arc reactors (he will never make the mistake again to use a singular power source and risk being stranded like in Siberia ever again). It will look like his old hand, so that no one can see his weakness turned weapon. Only when he needs to use the integrated repulsor the truth will be obvious as it would burn through the fake skin over it. This flaw he plans on fixing with mark II. 

Mark I will still be steered through the EEG glasses, until he gains enough knowledge to build a interface to translate the neural impulses between his flesh arm and the mechanical prosthesis. The EEG glass still manage to 'hack' into the brain like the BARF glasses to transmit feelings like touch and heat until then.

The vibranium hand will be able to stop bullets and short of King T'Challa's vibranium claws nothing will be able to scratch it. 

It also will be able to be tracked by Friday and will have a build in listening device. Perfect to give instructions to Friday or gain evidence if anyone who would dare to threaten him. Additionally, he will also be able to subtly communicate with Friday via Morse Code. He simply has to tap his middle and ring finger simultaneously. Friday can answer by vibration of his pinky.

Future version may even get more equipment, like scanners, but he will have to see how heavy that would make the hand. But for his first self made prosthesis this is quite nice.

No matter what, he will from now on always be armed and ready. His gauntlet watch helped a lot when Barnes was triggered, but int the end it was purely defensive. His new hand will be a whole 'nother league. Maybe he will even be able to fit a thin Iron Man suit in his prosthetic, so it could enfold him more or less completely like his suitcase armor.

This would make the statement 'I am Iron Man' even more true than before.  
******  
In a twist of fate, Thor and surprisingly Banner, come land a few days later at the compound. As well as another few hundred Aesir refugees. After Tony looks befuddled at the group they swap stories; Tony about the Civil War, though nothing about his extensive injuries, and Thor and Bruce about Ragnarök. 

Surprisingly, or maybe not, Thor and Bruce are in favor of the Accords. Thor learned that arrogance and the stubborn believe that oneself knows best and shouldn't answer to anyone can have catastrophic consequences.

And Banner, though looking constipated when he learned that ThaddeusRoss was the American liaison, agrees with the accords, too. Open discussion, clear policies and listening to the people are the only way to keep anything as corruption free and just as possible. And the open discussions are the only way to improve yourself. If you're considering your work as the best actions possible and no improvements are needed, while causing massive property damage and lots of civilian causalities, then it looks like you aren't protecting 'the little guy' but are releasing a bit of tension in the guise of doing good while seeing the world as your playground and civilians as ants that just sometimes happened to be under your boot. 

Even though Bruce and Thor seem to be on his side, he still doesn't trust them with the whole truth of how extensive his injuries from Siberia are. _Once bitten, twice shy._ and Tony was 'bitten' too often by people he thought he could trust (Howard, Obadiah, Rogers, Romanoff, Ty...). Hell, even Thor had no qualms about chocking Tony a bit when angry. And Bruce tends too flee when things get tough. So, he clearly needed to trust less.

Alas, his injuries don't hinder him much these days and he has no need for pity, so he doesn't see a need to tell them.

“O—kay,” Tony says after processing the amount of new information and thinking about what new tasks this brings, “I don't know whether the UN, or any singular country for that matter, has any regulations in place for alien refugees. But considering we don't do well for the human ones I don't have much hope.

“On the other hand though, most of you have light skin, so maybe the racist will have less problems with you. I will contact my lawyers and ask them how to deal with the legal stuff. In the meanwhile, the compound has a lot of space, so we should be able to squeeze you all in. 

“Friday, order enough food for all. From multiple sources to be a bit less suspicious. 

“And to all Aesir new to earth: Welcome, I hope you can find a home here and sorry for the loss of your old one. Please follow me.” Maybe this will help earth in the long run. If the Aesir see a new home for them here, they will share their knowledge, technology and strength with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thor Ragnarök will be more or less canon in this story except the end when Thanos ship intercepts them. Here they simply fly towards earth without much trouble.
> 
> Also, am I writing to much about technological stuff? I'm studying medical engineering, so maybe I'm too interested in how Tony's fixing himself. Does it bore you?


	6. Suprise

Little welcome speech done, Tony leads the 300ish Aesir into the compound.

“First question, are there any injured who need medical attention? We have a medical wing where you can be treated, though the knowledge about Aesir physiology are limited at best.”

“The most serious injuries have been treated on our way here. If you could provide some more supplies, we are able to treat everything ourselves.” Thor answers.

“Sure, we've got lots of supplies at the med bay. Friday, tell Dum-E to grab some and put on the table in the communal kitchen. So everyone can grab some if they need it.

“Okay next issue. The compound should be big enough to house you all, though we are lacking in beds currently. I have a few apartments that are no longer in use-”, because the occupants are now terrorists, “-which are fully equipped, so we can put some folk in those. Thor and Bruce, you can room with me, Vision, and Rhodey. Vision doesn't use his apartment much anyways, so he will probably offer his to live in mine. Rhodey is currently away on medical treatment, but he will be back to his room next week. The furnished apartments will be best for families. Are there any families with you?” Tony asks.

"Seven families with four to eight members step forward. “Okay, You each can choose a door in this wing-” he shows them the wing where Wanda, Sam, Steve, Natasha, and Vision lived, as well as three unoccupied rooms, “-five of those show signs of occupation, but it's residents abandoned those, so they are free for grabs. I just haven't had the time yet to empty those. So, please don't get confused by it. I will bring you some boxes so you can stash the personal stuff in those to be put/thrown/donated away. If you see something you like, feel free to take it, most of it was paid by me anyways...

"There is one free apartment left in this wing for around five people plus a guest wing with eight rooms for two people each. Discuss with each other who gets those. Then there's the movie room with one massive couch for four to seven sleeping people, depending how much you want to cuddle with each other...

"Next would be the three conference rooms for... Friday, how many mattresses you think would find those without a problem?”

“16 each would be best.” Friday answers after a second.

“Okay, that makes 48 there plus...” Tony stops after seeing the confused faces of most of the Aesir. “Oh, that's Friday. She's an AI, short for Artificial Intelligence. She's basically a technology based artificial person without a body. She's almost everywhere in this building. Her eyes are are lots of little cameras around the compound, the same with her ears aka microphone etc.” After seeing some distrustful looks, Tony adds. “Excluding private areas, of course, there are no cameras and only one microphone which only activates after key phrases like 'Help' or 'Friday'. If you ever have need of anything, just ask her.

“So, how many people we got covered? 48 plus 32 plus 16 makes 96. Then there are the two training rooms, where 100 people each would fit easily in, even when that's probably not as nice as a private room. But for a short time it should work.

“I will order catering to manage the food. Showers can be taken in the two communal showers next to the training rooms.” And so Tony spends the rest of the day organizing everything needed for _his_ refugees.  
******  
When night has finally fallen, everyone got something to eat and a place to sleep, Tony finally steers Bruce, Thor and a dark haired lady, who tends to be glued to Thor, to his apartment.

“Finally, here's your place to crash. Bruce, you can have the room next to the balcony. Thor, you and your girlfriend(?) can have the room left to it.” Tony says eyeing the lady.

“Oh, sorry my friend, for the slight deception, but we wanted to divide the shock a bit when we landed in your garden without prior notice. This ain't my girlfriend but my brother Loki, whose death wasn't as serious as I thought at my previous visit and has helped me against Hela.” Thor looks both proud and a bit sheepish at the admission.

Tony eyes Lady Loki dubiously and after Loki only stands there, Thor kicks her. Loki just rolls her eyes and changes his appearance to his usual self. Tony's eyes widen behind his glasses.

“Well met, Man of Iron, thanks for the hospitality.” Loki says with a shit eating grin.

“Oh-kay, you seem to be the epitome of the saying: 'The news of my death have been greatly exaggerated.' Well, congratulations Thor in getting your brother back.” Tony says with an uneasy smile. “I trust that you still can room together. And I don't know about you, but I am quite tired. Good night.” Tony says, totally not fleeing. Loki might be good, but better to be on the safe side.  
********  
Tony sees the shield in Siberia coming for his neck and the moment the shield should connect, he wakes. He wakes up screaming in total darkness and total silence. Is this death? Is he dead? Is this his personal hell? An existence in nothingness? Before he can fall into absolute panic, suddenly it becomes bright.

He isn't in Siberia or in the afterlife. He is alone in his bedroom. Th lights are changing in soft rainbow colors and Friday is displaying the text she and Jarvis used to tell him after a panic attack on the TV.

He is safe. He lays down on the bed and tries to regulate his breathing. Welp, that's it for sleep this night. Three hours is better than nothing, right? Kinda expected after last days event. 

After he got himself somewhat under control again, he goes back to hi lab. Mindless inventing always helps him after nightmares.

Four hours later he got the first prototype of a device that uses BARF to hijack the occipital lobe so that blind people can see (again). Provided no damage occipital lobe caused the blindness. Stark Medical will be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter/Holidays!


	7. Sparkles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by _Mercedes_. Who nag at me when reading or being at my phone during idle time, but not when I write (on paper). I guess it doesn't look fun and writing consists of staring into nothingness thinking of what to write most of the time anyway...

The next day, before Tony has to leave for an Accords meeting, Tony contacts his legal team to plan strategies on how to deal with his alien refugees nationally and internationally. Even if the USA may be against them, maybe some other countries will be happy to grant them citizenship. Hell, as a last resort Tony could simply buy or even build an island for them, call it New Asgard or Starkia or something. Or put them on a large cruise ship on international waters where no immigration laws exist. Right?

Their first source of income could be tourism. 'New Asgard-Home of the Gods!' would be a great slogan.

Besides the issue as where to put them, they also needed IDs. For when they want to travel or start a life somewhere. “Friday, get all possibly needed paperwork to gain citizenship, IDs, refugee status and whatever you else can think of that could be needed printed out for everyone. Hmm, does Allspeak translate also into writing? Better ask Thor if it does. Otherwise we abandon the print out idea and let them write it on tablets while you learn to translate it. And print out your translation then.”

“Will do, Boss!”

“Thanks Fry, you're the best.”  
****  
After his Accords meeting, where he managed to close a few loopholes, that would have enabled misuse, and amend a few vital things, Tony walks onto a strange sight in the compound.

The common room is filled with people. On one side a few Aesir are assembling some beds and wardrobes while trying to make sense of the IKEA manuals. Then there is Thor regaling some of his subjects about the wonders of Midgard and explaining a few things that had him bewildered when he first landed here during the current century. On the far side a stone-being with a surprising soft voice is entertaining some children with some stories and Loki not far from him is showing some 'teens' a few magic tricks, while obviously enjoying the dubious looks their parents shoot him.

As they are not pulling away their children while screaming bloody murder, Loki has to have redeemed himself somewhat even to their more skeptical eyes (compared to Thor). Tony relaxes a bit and walks around a bit, asking if they need anything.  
*****  
A week after the survivors of Asgard moved into the compound, Tony's legal team prepared as much as they could without taking too much time and possibly angering the global powers that they hid the refugees.

During that week Tony and Co gave interviews and the likes about the future of superheros, like their plans of recruiting new, more trustworthy members of the Avengers. They talk about the Accords, training and win back a part of the public favor.

So when Tony finally tells the politicians, who leak it shortly thereafter to the press, about the Aesir, the world is more open again about Enhanced and Heroes. And as Thor still had some good public image as he was only connected with helping in the Chitauri invasion and against the dark elves. No connection to the shit show the media called 'Civil War'.

But still, the whole topic is discussed by the public pretty controversially. The scientist are ecstatic, lots of friendly aliens they could study (with their permission of course!) and interview. 'Do you know what came before the Big Bang? Is the Big Bang theory even true? How many alien civilizations do you know of and about? What kind of technology do you have?' And many more.

Then there are the religious and intolerant, who claim their existence is blasphemous and that they will lead earth to its ruins. (As if humans aren't quite busy doing it themselves.)

The politicians are conflicted. Would they loose power if the 'gods' will proclaim something contrary to them. Will they maybe even try to overthrow the world with their superior strength and unknown war machinery?

And then there are the ones who think that humans should first look out for fellow humans before trying to help aliens.

But thankfully, most normal people have no problems with 300 aliens living with them.

In the end the easiest way about it is to build them a whole new island before the American east shore. And while doing that, Tony has vouched for them. He will pay any of their expenses, will keep them mostly inside the compound and will keep an eyes on them for any possible world dominating behavior.

New Asgard will be, at least at first, a pretty small island. Smaller than Asgard used to be, but considering the population size decreased and no grant golden palaces are needed, it will be fine. It's location will be in somewhat warm waters, as Asgard isn't used to snow.

The UN is split on whether they will recognize Asgard as a sovereign state, but as most still fear that the Aesir could easily best them, they just grumble and ignore them.

During the time New Asgard is build and the Aesir somehow deal with the loss of Asgard, Tony has enough time to think about his No. 1 Worry, the one behind the Chitauri Invasion.

For this, Tony invites Thor, Loki, Bruce and whoever they think could know something about the invasion and the infinity stones to his office.

Besides the aforementioned three, they bring Heimdall, Valkyrie and two former councilmen of Odin. Tony brings Rhodey and Vision. 

After introducing all unknown parties to each other, Tony dives right into the gist of things. “I invited you here to ask about what you know about the infinity stones and the Chitauri invasion. I thought about Ultron and the mind stone together with Vision and theorized that Ultron, the conscious entity inside the scepter with the mind stone that tried to kill all life on earth two years back, was maybe planted there by whoever was behind the invasion for exactly this purpose, considering the mind stone itself, as it is currently inhabiting Vision's forehead, as well as far as we know the tesseract, show no signs of such an entity. So, do you have any information that could help in answering who is behind it all?”

Loki looks agitated after the mention of the invasion, but is the first to answer. “The driving force behind the invasion was and still is the titan Thanos.” Loki starts to explain. At the mention of Thanos Thor, Valkyrie, Heimdall and the two councilmen startle and look concerned. Loki explains for the earthlings further.

“Titans are a, now mostly extinct, race of really strong, smart, hardy and violent species. Thanos is a fanatic that believes himself destined to kill most of the universe in a twisted show of affection to the embodiment of death. Something about restoring balance. He killed most of the other Titans, started to enslave a few races who are good fighters and easily controlled, like the Chitauri I brought to you (involuntary). Along the way he destroys races and planets, sparing a few strong children, so he can 'adopt' them and make them his enforcers. He calls them 'his children', and the especially strong and cruel ones are dubbed the 'Black Order'. His right hand is called 'The Other', who specializes in making his prisoners obey. Either by torture or through the mind stone.”

“And you chose to work with such a monster?” One of the councilmen asks.

Loki's collected manner vanishes instantly. “No one works _withfor_ him! And the only one who chose it was The Other.”

“And why didn't you tell us of that before?”

“Would you have believed me? I am known as the god of lies. You don't trust me. And I don't trust you.”

“And when you acted as Odin?”

“I didn't tell you then either, as you would have asked for my source of knowledge and telling you Loki told me that would have brought on the same issues. But I started preparing for better defenses and the like without telling you the reasons behind it, if you remember.”

“Hm, I see,” is the only answer to that.

“And as of you theory about the mind stone and scepter, it is possible. It could control you even without anyone physically wielding it. An entity within the specter could have done it.”

“Besides the mind and space stone, there are also the eather, soul, power, and time stone,” Thor continued after a few second of silence where all parties tried to digest all the new information. “The aether was involved during the convergence, it alter reality to it wielder's whim. It is kept safe currently by on of the elders of the universe. The power stone is kept by the Nova Corp, a peaceful federation of planets. It increases the wielder's strenght and can manipulate energy. The tesseract was kept one Asgard and Loki currently holds it. The location of the soul and time stone are unknown to me.”

“It may be that Thanos has them. He 'gave' me the scepter to obtain the space stone, if he had the others, he didn't let me see it.” Loki continues.

“The location of the time stone is known,” a new voice adds suddenly from the side, accompanied by a dying circle of sparkles.

The group startles, Loki conjurs his knives and snarls a “You!”, Thor immediately smiles like seeing an old friend and Tony first has to look for the source, as Fridays is displaying the words on the HUD-glasses, but he is seeing none of the group move their lips. Upon seeing the intruder, Tony is immediately on alert, activating the repulsors on his gauntlet hand, which let out a small whine and illuminate the palm of his hand a bit , though not yet burning through the fake skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More chapters should follow soon-ish as I will work for another 6 weeks, where I will have plenty time to write.


	8. Strange

“Sorcerer Strange!” Thor greets, “Well met again!”

“Do you know him?” Tony asks. “Is he a friendly?”

“Yes” “No” Thor and Loki answer at the same time. But considering Loki relaxes and vanishes his knives, Tony allows himself to relax in turn.

“Apologies for appearing out of thin air without warning, but I sensed a lot of unknown magic users in this location and had to check if there is a threat. Then I heard you discussing the infinity gems...

“But let me first introduce myself. I am Dr. Stephen Strange, former Neurosurgeon, current Sorcerer Supreme and leader of the 'Masters of the Mystic Arts'.

“Sorcerer Supreme?” Tony asks skeptically. “Gloating much?”

“I didn't choose the name. The title is hundreds of years old. My task is to protect the dimensions from magical and mystical threats. And to safe keep magical artifacts, which happens to include the ''Eye of Agamotto' or for you better known as the Time Stone.” Here Strange points to his necklace around his neck.

“Which means four of the six infinity stones where on earth nearly simultaneously. Awesome, that's no bad omen at all. Has anyone tried to take your gaudy jewelery from you? Maybe even an alien someone?” Tony asks with a sigh.

“No thankfully not. I had to use it a few years ago to stop Dormamu from devouring this dimension, without it we would have been lost.”

“Dormamu?” asks Heimdall. “That's an ancient evil I haven't heard of in a long time.”

“Yes, ancient and nigh unbeatable, but I managed to 'persuade' him to leave us alone.”

“How?”

“I annoyed him into leaving.” Loki scoffs in the background. Strange only smiles smugly in answer. “Trapped him with me in a time loop that I would only end if he left us alone”

“Anyway. I can sense a great power slowly making their way towards our position and considering that I also sense something similar to the Eye moving with it, I guess it could be this Thanos you were talking about.

”This day keeps getting better and better.” Tony says while pinching the bridge of his nose. “But at least I'm not the only one anymore that anticipates the alien threat returning.”

“This is indeed bad tidings,” declares Thor. “Preparation have to be made. We can't let evil like this best us!”

“We will need to work together if we want to even hope to stop him,” says Loki.

“I can contact the magic community on earth,” Strange adds.

“I will contact Vanaheim, Alfheim and some others, they are still allied to us,” says Thor.

“I will contact the United Nations and Accords Council, though one of you should accompany me, so that you can add some credibility to the warning.” Tony adds.

“Do you think the Captain and his comrades will help us?” Thor asks Tony.

Tony looks conflicted. “They will for sure want to help, but considering how they acted in the past, the public and the global leaders won't think that they will do more good than not. The best we can hope for is that they stay hidden where they are now, don't cause any more trouble and only crawl out of their hidey holes when shit gets serious. Otherwise they only will add up to our troubles. But knowing Rogers, that is too much to hope for.”

“Do you have a way of contacting the Captain? Or do you know where he is? To warn him, so that he can prepare?”

“In fact I do know where he hides, but he never cared to prepare before, maybe because I was the one warning him. So I don't know if a warning would help. Especially if I try to tell him to lay low, that would probably only provoke him to do the exact opposite. But I can get you in contact with their new 'landlord', if you want to try your luck. You can decide.”

“No, in such matters I learned to trust your judgment. If you say to leave them be, than I will follow your lead.”

“Okay. Is there anything left to share about the whole issue? Has anyone more information about it?” Tony asks after a short silence and is met with a round of head shakes in negative.

“Alright. Then I will make some calls and you do your way of contacting your allies.”  
*****  
In light of the coming threat and the need to work together, Tony finally tries to bridge the gap between Vision and him.

“I owe you an apology, Vision. I avoided you and low-key resented you for not being Jarvis. I don't know how much you have of Jarvis' memories, how much you know of our relationship, but he was my best friend, my confidante, and something like my son. So when you weren't like him, when his loss seemed to be final, I couldn't deal with it.

"I didn't realize that even though you were him, you still are one of _mine_. You are your own person. And when you were new to the world and could have used some help or guidance, I avoided you. And I am deeply sorry for that. You weren't alone, thankfully. But I know a bit about guiding an artificial intelligence. You experience things differently, emotions are not logical, especially for a logical mind like yours.

“I also isolated you from your likes, Friday wasn't installed in the compound and she took her cues from me in terms of her behavior towards you. Again, I'm sorry.

“So, how do you like the idea for a fresh start? We both could help each other, be there when needed?”

Vision is touched by Tony's admission. “You are not the only one responsible for the divide. I separated myself from you, too. I tried to figure myself out and the mixed feelings towards you confused me. Humans in general confused me, the only human I felt interest towards was Wanda. I think it was because of the connection with the mind stone, the source of her powers, that made me feel close to her. Though the distance from her since the fight at the airport let me see that it wasn't healthy.

“So I would like a new start. It would help us both.” Vision reaches with his right hand towards Tony, for a handshake. It isn't a hug, but it still feels warm.


	9. Assembly

The first person Tony contacts about the Thanos threat is his Accords liaison. Thankfully that's not Thaddeus Ross anymore. After collecting enough evidence to build a watertight case for e.g. human experimentation, misuse of power and quite a bit more, he was fired. The trial will begin shortly, but he is at least already pulled from his position of liaison to the Avengers. 

The new liaison is Everette Ross and he organizes an UN assembly.

Tony makes a presentation about the alien threat with all the information he already gathered. He takes Thor and Rhodey with him.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I come with a dire warning . An alien threat is heading our way. The same perpetrator who tried to invade in Manhattan 2012. I now give Thor Odinson, King of Asgard, new inhabitant of this little blue marvel we call earth, the stage.”

“Thank you for hearing us out and a big thank you for allowing us Aesir to take refuge here on earth with you. I know that some people doubt our intentions. Speculate if we want to take over this world or want to harm you in any way. But I give you my word, the only thing we want is to live our life as peaceful as possible. No conflict will come from our side.

“But sadly, conflict is on it's way to earth. By no fault of yours. Or ours. The Titan Thanos is from a race that loves strive. He is a fanatic that courts the entity known as Mistress Death, who like the name implies, is the embodiment of it. And for that purpose he chose to kill half of all living beings. He himself is nigh unbeatable and he has a few strong fighters by his side. To aid his mission he also gathers ancient extremely powerful magical artifacts known as infinity gems. One of those you have already seen in action. It opened the portal that the Chitauri used to invade in 2012 and is called the Space Gem.

“There are five others like it and together they give the one who wield them nigh unlimited power. Three of those are currently on earth in safe hands, two are in safe hands in different places in the galaxy, one is, for me and my allies, unaccounted for. Even if Thanos manages to gather the three stones that are currently not on earth, as long as he has not all six, there is still hope to beat him.

“I implore you to gather your forces and train, as I gather my not Midgardian allies. All our fates are stake.”

Silence follows Thor's speech, followed shortly thereafter by rapid chatter between the members. After a few minutes, the first questions are asked.

“Can't we simply transport those stones far away from us, remove the target from our planet?” asks one.

“Nay, it would only remove our advantage. He would still come to Midgard to increase the numbers he kills for his Mistress.” Thor replies.

“Then maybe the opposite. Collect them all and use them to defend ourselves,” says another.

“That sadly isn't feasible option either. The stones contain immense power, mortals can't wield them. Even I couldn't withstand the power of all stones combined. Furthermore, the search could take centuries. Centuries we don't have.”

“You can't possibly believe this charade. I don't know what game they're playing, but doesn't this all seem to convenient to you? They loose their home planet, they come here to take refuge and after we grant them that, suddenly they come with a threat of war. Who is to say that you don't try to safe yourself by throwing us to the wolves or that you want to get all the intel on our military powers so that you can harm us?”

Here Tony intercepts again. “Yeah, I guessed someone would ask that, so I invited an Aesir unaffiliated earthen sorcerer, who knew before Thor and his people took refuge here, that something big and powerful is coming our way. Please don't be surprised, he is prone to a dramatic entrance.” Tony clicks something on his phone and two seconds later a portal opens next to Thor and Dr Strange steps out. A gasp goes through the audience. 

“Good afternoon esteemed UN assembly, my name is Dr. Stephen Strange, also known as Sorcerer Supreme in the magical community. I can verify that something of immense power is steadily making it's way towards us, one or more infinity stones in their presence and the outcry of many thousand souls dying simultaneously every few weeks in their wake. So Thor's warning is most likely true. And it's better to prepare than to be caught with our pants down like in 2012.”

“And if you fear that Thor and his people could be spying on us, than don't show him our whole military capacity. The military coordination would be done between the national leaders and the UN anyways. You just have to learn how Thor and his people could contribute to the fight. They would be a special force anyway, considering they fight with sword, ax and magic.” Tony contributes. 

“And why should we trust some random, to us previously unknown sorcerer? One that has the gall to call himself supreme?” asks another skeptical councilmen.

“I'm not some random sorcerer and haven't chosen the title. The title was chosen thousands of years ago by the magical community and is given to any being, that commands the greatest magical power in any dimension or world at the current time. I was trained by the last Sorcerer Supreme and got the title after she died. I am the leader of many strong and knowledgeable sorcerers that guard the world against magical threats and we have saved you countless times without you knowing anything about it. And as we have pledged ourselves to protect, this coming threat can't be ignored.

“And even if what we told you isn't true, you can't no longer keep your heads in the sand about possible alien threats, who could try to invade, destroy, enslave and kill everything and everyone on earth. You had luck when the Chitauri invaded, you can't rely on continuing to be lucky.”

This answer is followed by more muttering between the members. When after a few minutes there still is no end to it, Tony intervenes. “You don't have to come to a conclusion now, obviously. We wanted to inform you, so that you could discuss it all as soon as possible. Discuss it all with you generals, parliaments and whatnot. If you have questions, you can call or email me. I will send you all the information we managed to gather for you to analyze. We will start to plan and recruit as it is already possible under the Sokovian Accords.” When this isn't gaining any objections, they leave with a “Thank you for your time”.  
\-------  
“Well, that went as well as could be expected.” Tony says with a sigh when they step back onto compound grounds. 

“Are your leaders always so stubborn and suspicious of others?” asks Thor bemused.

“Depends on the country. Conservatives don't like change, so anything that changes the _Status Quo_ or is new is seen as bad. Even if it would help others. Let's hope they fear enough for their live to chose the right decision.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please kudo and comment if you liked it and are interested in reading more.
> 
> And for whoever is interested about the health consequences of the arc reactor: http://martinipols.tumblr.com/post/158593318941/koalablu-wow-this-got-out-of-hand-a-bit-all . I've got some inspiration from there.


End file.
